Place the blackberries in a small bowl. Add a splash of hot water and then use a fork to crush and mash up the berries.
Push the berries through a sieve allowing the juice to fall into a clean jug. Use the back of a spoon to push through as much juice as you can. - Discard seeds.
Add 2 teaspoon honey to the blackberry juice and mix well.
Divide the sweetened blackberry juice between 2 tall mugs or double walled glasses and add a measure of sloe gin to each glass.
Top up each glass with hot water and stir well until the honey fully dissolves. Taste and add more honey if desired.
Decorate each glass with sprigs of rosemary and extra whole blackberries (optional).
Notes
Flavour: For extra flavour add spices such as cinnamon, cloves and star anise.Rosemary: To enhance the flavour of rosemary add a few rosemary leaves to the hot water and blackberries in step 1 of the recipe. Then leave to stand and infuse for a few minutes before removing the rosemary and crushing the blackberries with a fork.Substitutions: If you can't get hold of any fresh blackberries you could replace with blackcurrants, strawberries, blueberries or a blackcurrant or blackberry cordial.Can I use other types of gin in this hot toddy recipe? You can of course opt for other flavours of gin if you prefer. Try to go for flavours that will pair well with blackberries.Can I use brandy or whiskey in this hot toddy recipe? If you are looking for a brandy of whiskey hot toddy then remove the rosemary and berries from this recipe and use lemon juice and cinnamon instead. Taste and add more honey if desired.